The Balcony
by yaaaaaaayme
Summary: They were separated by only a thin barrier- but all walls must fall eventually. SasuNaru OR NaruSasu, up to interpretation. A nice, fluffy, AU piece about two high school boys falling in love.


This is just a sweet little SasuNaruSasu (the seme depends on your interpretation) story in which I've tried to break away from a few of the clichés that I usually fall into. I was going to make it multiple chapters, but instead it combined them all together into a oneshot― it almost reads like a play now, with different parts (like acts), or like a short film or something… Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it!

[And to those of you who have read my other fictions and are wondering why I haven't updated them if I have time to work on this, just know that I've been writing this one since the summer and only just finished it!]

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**The Balcony**

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Part 1: Strangers**

Although, in retrospect, it all seemed a bit silly, you can't really blame Sasuke and Naruto for the odd circumstances that lead up to that one significant night (and everything that followed as a result). After all, do you― yes, you, the ones sitting there with so incredulous a look― really know all of your neighbors? Perhaps a few of you have never even seen their faces. Well, if that's the case, then someday you may just find yourself in the same predicament as our dear heroes.

For these two young boys were not what one might call particularly neighborly― that wasn't to say they were bad people, just not sociable around the apartment complex in which they both resided. In the event that there had been some kind of block party or the like, Uchiha Sasuke especially would only be found as far away from the festivities as humanly possible.

And thus, though they did in fact live in the same building and, by some miraculous twist of fate, even shared a floor with apartments directly beside each other, the two had never crossed paths anywhere outside of school― not once. That in itself is a feat that might have taken scientists and mathematicians years of studying probability and theories of alternate dimensions to fully understand. But alas, Naruto and Sasuke had somehow managed to do it.

All that Sasuke knew about the tenant living next door was that he blasted his music too loud, played video games at all times of the night when Sasuke was trying to get some beauty rest (not that he could have _possibly _gotten any more handsome), and that his whole apartment smelled vaguely of instant ramen. Therefore, Sasuke concluded, the person living there was an obnoxious, idiotic, teenaged boy.

All that Naruto knew about _his_ floor mate was… well, very little, actually. Whoever it was was always quiet, though the lightly perfumed smell coming from the apartment confirmed that there was indeed someone living there, and that that person enjoyed passion fruit air freshener. Therefore, Naruto deduced, the person living there was a girl.

The two boys even attended the same school, a private institution just a short distance by train called Konoha Prefectural Academy. In school, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke could not, in any way, be defined as friends. Naruto declared to his actual friends (and anyone who could be forced into listening) that Sasuke was his rival for coolest, most popular guy in their grade. Sasuke, the actual coolest and most popular guy, just viewed Naruto as more annoying than a mosquito. Naturally, neither had taken any interest in where the other might live.

And so it was more amazing still that they had not encountered each other outside of school. The reason for this, however, was fairly simple; Sasuke, a perfectionist, always arose early and went through a very precise morning routine of preparation, personal hygiene, and ensuring that his hair was spiked in precisely the correct angles. He was always right on time for the 7:00 train― even though it was a 20-minute trip― and spent the extra time at school in the morning to use the archery range on campus. Naruto, on the other hand, woke up around 8:00 each morning, grabbed pieces of his school uniform that smelled clean, ran to the train station with breakfast halfway between his hand and mouth, and made it to school just in time to catch the 8:30 bell signaling the start of homeroom. After classes, Sasuke went immediately to cram school, whereas Naruto went to hang out with his friends and wreak havoc around Tokyo.

The only thing that the two boys shared was a balcony that could be accessed from each of their apartments. Even that, however, was divided by a concrete wall with only a small gap at the bottom.

But whether they were aware of it or not, Sasuke and Naruto were close in many ways. And so, naturally, it was almost an inescapable fate that the two boys would discover their situation eventually.

After a long day of school one Thursday in which the students spent hours taking mock exams for the end-of term tests that were coming up soon, Naruto was on his way home on the train. There would be no havoc to wreak tonight with his friend Kiba and their little gang; he just wanted to go home, relax, and never think about the horrors he'd gone through trying to finish those tests. And maybe enjoy a nice cup of ramen. Sasuke, who was likewise tired from the exams (though was all but guaranteed to score several letter grades above Naruto) received a call on his cell phone saying that cram school for that evening had been cancelled due to a burst pipe. That was a first, but he wasn't about to complain. Instead, he decided to head home to relax as well. This unexpected twist of events finally allowed their two paths to converge.

The train that they both decided to take at that particular time was unusually crowded, even for the massive amount that it often carried. It was as if some cosmic force had enticed a large amount of people to pack onto that car of the train for one simple reason: to push Naruto and Sasuke together.

Presently, Naruto stood holding onto a metal pole to steady himself for when the train began to move. He'd given up his seat to a hunched old woman with grocery bags. He was a strong, virile, young man, after all, and it was in his manly duty to stand and offer his seat to a woman in need. Though he would soon regret that…

Sasuke, not being one who normally took the train at this time, was nearly late. It would have only meant that he would have to wait a few more minutes, but even that certainly couldn't sit well with Sasuke, as it would break his perfect on-time record. As such, he was the last one to make it through the doors of the train before they slid shut. He immediately reached up to hold onto the metal bar above him. He didn't even realize who he was standing wedged against until he turned his head and looked down slightly. Naruto― the small and annoying― stood there, glaring back. Sasuke arched one eyebrow, looking down his nose at the blond boy before him as the train lurched into motion.

"Well if it isn't Mr. Icypants himself," Naruto said, gripping the pole more tightly. He wasn't tall enough to reach the bar above him, but he wasn't going to let a little thing like his state of being vertically challenged get in the way of proving he was just as good as Sasuke. "Been a snobbish bastard to anyone lately?"

The eyebrow didn't fall, as Sasuke continued to look at him like a little bug as they swayed in time with the train as it screeched through the underground tunnel.

"No more than usual," Sasuke replied with a smirk. Okay, so he was sinking to Naruto's― laughably short― level. But he was afraid that if he used any big words, they would sail over that low head of his. Which reminded him; "Did you get shorter?" Hn. Short jokes. They were too easy. Naruto wrinkled his nose in annoyance.

"Prick," he countered lamely. The two lapsed into an irritated silence, punctuated only by the banging of the train as it rocked over its tracks. "Why are you on this train anyway?" Naruto asked after a while, renewing the conversation. "You aren't following me, are you?"

"Idiot…" Sasuke sighed, "I live this way."

"Oh," Naruto said simply. It was quiet between them again as they stared at each other. But this time, it lasted for a much shorter length of time.

You see, trains are a curious mode of transportation. Each time they travel between two points, they generally pass over the exact same course each time. If one were to look at the path from above, the turns and bumps would be rather predictable. But for someone riding inside the train, however, the perspective is vastly different and the twists are much more unpredictable. Even Sasuke and Naruto, who were accustomed to riding this line to and from school every morning and night, couldn't have guessed exactly what was coming next.

The train screeched around one of these sudden curves and those riding inside found themselves jostled towards one wall of the car; this happened to be the side that Sasuke and Naruto were on. Had they not been distracted by the silent staring contest they were presently engaged in, in which sparks were all but flying between their glaring eyes, both boys might have remembered to hold onto the bars more tightly and set their footings a bit more well than they were. Instead, Sasuke found himself knocked over by a fellow passenger who had bumped into him from behind, sending him vaulting forward into a very surprised Naruto, who also fell backwards from the force of the impact.

Luckily― or perhaps unluckily, depending on one's perspective― Naruto's lips broke Sasuke's fall.

Immediately, they broke apart, coughing and sputtering and trying to rid themselves of the other's cooties; Naruto held his throat as if he'd been burned. When the doors opened a moment later to let people off at the next stop, Sasuke was the first one onto the platform. This wasn't his stop, but he could bear the weight of waiting for a few minutes for the next train to come, as long as he didn't have to ride it with that idiot, Uzumaki Naruto. Said idiot was thankful that Sasuke had gotten off, for a similar reason.

However, if the two boys had been less preoccupied with the shock of suddenly falling into a kiss― not to mention a kiss with another _guy!_― they might have noticed that there had been a spark between them of a different kind.

Later that night, as Naruto stood with his chin resting on the counter, staring at the microwave as the water for his ramen turned round and round inside, a rare thought occurred to him: that had been his first kiss. As he realized this, he mourned the loss of his (already suffering) street cred. He was a junior in high school and it was already pretty uncool that he'd never kissed a girl before. But if word got out that his first kiss had been stolen by none other than that self-righteous bastard, Uchiha Sasuke, he'd never live it down. Hopefully, no one would find out. And hopefully this therapeutic cup of ramen would get the taste of Sasuke's mouth― a bit fruity and admittedly not unpleasant― out of Naruto's own.

Sasuke was out on the balcony attached to his apartment, also doing some reflecting. Unlike with Naruto, that kiss today had not been Sasuke's first. There were many girls who had crushes on him, so he'd resigned himself to go on dates with a few of them, no matter how annoying he found them all. And one doesn't earn the title of most awesome guy in school by being a virgin to the world of kissing. But he found that, with each one, one main problem always turned him off from any further time spent with those girls: their mouths were always too cold. He then assumed that it would always be that way and perhaps that he was just slightly odd and didn't like kissing in general. But Naruto… his mouth, at the momentary point of contact, seemed to radiate heat. That wasn't to say that Sasuke _enjoyed_ that little accident. The taste reminded him of the smell of food that always wafted out of his neighbor's apartment. And that was the whole reason he was out on the balcony in the first place; it was the only place he couldn't smell the instant ramen without having to spray more air freshener.

A moment later, however, Sasuke heard the sliding door a few feet away as it opened and closed again, and he knew that his floor mate had also come out onto the balcony (probably to eat that prepackaged lump of sodium he called food). He looked over and saw bare legs hanging over the edge of the balcony through the railings, but he still couldn't see what the person looked like. The divider between them was still in the way.

Naruto looked up at the three-quarter moon as he slurped the noodles into his mouth from the Styrofoam cup. In the city, the stars weren't really visible from all the lights that were always on, but at least the moon was still there to look at on clear nights such as this. He though about Sasuke again, and then became annoyed at himself for having done so and went back to focusing on the moon. He put his cup ramen down for a second to catch his breath before diving back in. But then, when he went to pick it up again, his hand knocked one of the chopsticks resting inside out onto the floor of the balcony. It went rolling under the tiny, one-inch gap at the bottom of the concrete partition, there to keep rainwater from building up.

"Aw, shit," Naruto cursed as he dove after it. This was his last pair of chopsticks― he tended to lose them one way or another. His hand didn't fit far enough under the wall to reach the utensil, but when he looked beneath it, he saw a pair of feet; the girl next door was out there! A thin, pale hand reached down and picked up the chopstick.

Sasuke had heard the muffled swear before he saw the hand and then the chopstick that it was reaching for. Well he couldn't just _not_ help the guy out, even if it was really only because he was mildly curious to see who it was living in the space beside him.

He picked up the chopstick and leaned around the front of the divider to give it back, only to come face to face with the last person he'd expected (or wanted) to see so soon― Uzumaki Naruto. Naruto stared at him in just as much surprise. For both of them, many things suddenly made a whole lot more sense, while many more things became all the more confusing.

**

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Part 2: Neighbors**

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Sasuke hadn't slept well the night that he found out that Naruto lived next door. He was going over and over all the signs he must have missed. Honestly, when he thought about it, the description he'd come up with to fit his neighbor― that it was a loud, obnoxious, idiotic, teenaged boy who loved ramen― fit Naruto so perfectly that he simply could not believe that he hadn't connected the two together. Was it possible that Naruto's idiocy was catching?

That night, Naruto slept like a log, just as he always did. Living next to Sasuke wasn't anything to lose sleep over.

In the apartment that was home to the usually punctual Uchiha Sasuke, an alarm went off and an arm controlled by a still-sleeping brain reached out to hit the off button; not the snooze button, the _off_ button. It wasn't until there was a commotion from the apartment next door, which bled through the paper-thin walls, that Sasuke lifted his spiky head from the pillow and realized exactly what time it was. His morning routine was shot, and he was lucky to make it out of the apartment just in time for the last train that could get him to school without making him late for the 8:30 bell. He was already, however, late for being early.

And on that train with him, looking groggy with a pop tart half hanging out of his mouth and his uniform all mussed, was none other than the eyesore known as Uzumaki Naruto. Sasuke glared at him, wishing he had some sort of power that he could channel to his eyes that would help him murder the shrimp and get away with it. Or not get away with it, he was fine with that, too. If he had to trade his freedom for not having to see Naruto's stupid face ever again, he'd gladly choose a jail cell.

After a few minutes of being on the train and having a strange feeling as though someone were trying to burn a hole into his skull, Naruto woke up enough to take in his surroundings. And it was then that he realized that it was Sasuke seated opposite him, and that he was also the owner of the laser-like death glare. Naruto huffed and looked away, trying to pretend that he wasn't there.

Naturally, once the knowledge that they were neighbors was released to them, there was no avoiding seeing each other everywhere they went. It was amazing; previously, they'd never even met outside of school. Now, whenever one went on a train at an odd time or to the corner store a few extra blocks away in the hopes they'd be there alone, the other was there with the same plan. Whereas before they could ignore the existence of the other entirely, now they couldn't avoid it.

This was driving Naruto insane. He couldn't stand to see that arrogant face everywhere he went― he had enough of that being in the same class as him at school! It was torture. Worse yet, even when he wasn't actually _physically_ seeing Sasuke, he was _imagining_ that he was seeing him. In video games, on billboards, that little face on his packages of ramen, and even in his dream-slash-nightmares. Plus, he was fairly certain that the girl he'd met at the karaoke mixer he'd gone to with Kiba wasn't actually Sasuke in a dress, as he'd suspected for a few minutes, but they did share a striking resemblance.

Two weeks passed this way, with both boys feeling as though they were slowly descending into madness at each new sighting― real or imagined― of their torturous neighbor. Eventually, a night came in which they found themselves out on the balcony again at the same time.

Sasuke had been out there first, attempting to relax in the place that used to allow him to do so, but which now brought only a reminder of the night he'd discovered Naruto lived beside him. He hadn't slept well for weeks now, and if he didn't relax soon, he wasn't sure what was going to happen. Maybe he'd go insane and run off to join the dark side or something. When he heard the sound of the door on the other side of the concrete barrier sliding open, he knew there could only be one cause. Moments later, he saw tanned legs dangling from between the bars around the balcony and the smell of instant ramen wafted over to his side.

"Naruto," he said bluntly. On the other side of the wall, the addressed boy flinched; he hadn't noticed that Sasuke was out there as well.

"Yeah?" he responded defiantly.

"This is stupid."

"You're stupid," Naruto countered without thinking. Then he paused before continuing, looking down at the noodles swirling in his cup. "…have you been seeing me everywhere, too?"

"Yeah," Sasuke admitted, moving closer to the corner of the railing and the barrier so they could hear each other better. "I've been trying to avoid you, and all that's done is made me see you more."

It was quiet again as Naruto silently agreed.

"Well, then," the blond boy suggested after that moment, leaning over so he could actually see Sasuke, "Why don't we stop trying to avoid each other?"

"You mean, like, be friends?" One of Sasuke's thin eyebrows rose dubiously.

"Ew, no." Naruto scrunched his face up in disgust.

"Neighbors, then?"

"Neighbors," Naruto agreed with a nod. Then he smiled. Surely this would work.

A few more days went by; they continued to see each other everywhere. But now when they came across one another on the train or in the corner store, it wasn't a source of animosity, but rather just a neutral encounter of acquaintances. Occasionally, they said hi or waved, but other times they did not. If they were ever out on the balcony at the same time, one would usually leave, but sometimes they would have a conversation. But one such conversation occurred that would change that.

"Hey Sasuke…" Naruto greeted one night when he heard his neighbor exit onto the balcony, his voice sounding as if there were more to follow.

"Hn?" Sasuke prompted him to continue.

"You get good grades, right?"

"Yes…?"

"How?"

"I actually try," Sasuke scoffed, "You know, studying, doing my homework, not sleeping in class." Naruto crossed him arms sullenly, though Sasuke couldn't see him. "But you already knew that. So why ask?"

"Well," Naruto sighed, "I completely bombed those mock exams and the real ones are coming up really soon… I was just wondering what you did, so maybe I could do that, too."

"You're actually _trying _to get a good grade?"

"I _reeeeaaaallllyyy_ don't want to go to summer school," Naruto stressed, "Really."

"Well, I mean, I could tutor you, I guess," Sasuke suggested.

"You'd do that?"

"It doesn't mean I'm doing all of your work for you, you know."

"…I know that…"

"Good, then. How about starting tomorrow after my cram school?"

"Fine, then," Naruto agreed. "But don't think this means we're going to be friends or anything!"

**

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Part 3: Friends**

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Naruto and Sasuke were friends. There was really no denying it. At school, they acted the same as ever, arguing over silly things, teasing each other, Naruto declaring that Sasuke was his rival and Sasuke subsequently ignoring Naruto's antics. So, to the average observer, it didn't seem as though anything had changed. But in truth, their taunts had grown more playful and Sasuke was more likely to respond to anything that Naruto said than he had been before. And now, when they saw each other outside of school, they always waved and sometimes had conversations (though the dynamic between them was still the same arrogant-prick-and-obnoxious-idiot banter that it had always been).

Sasuke had been helping Naruto study for the exams everyday in the past two weeks. This was very often frustrating, as Naruto was pretty much the very definition of ADHD. Sasuke had clocked his maximum attention span at 3 minutes and 47 seconds.

Sasuke had insisted that they study in his apartment; he had never seen the inside of Naruto's but he could easily guess that it wouldn't exactly be a place that was conducive to studying the complex math formulas and modern history of Japanese steamboat captains that Sasuke had planned for them to go over that first night. But when Naruto had first walked into the neighboring apartment, he'd been too amazed by everything to calm down. He had to remark on anything and everything.

Sasuke's apartment was clean, and that was the best way to describe it. Everything looked straight out of one of those catalogs for a Swedish furniture store, where all of the colors match and the rooms have all been feng shui'd into maximum efficiency.

"So why the passion fruit air freshener?" Naruto commented of the smell pervading the air. Sasuke blushed― actually _blushed_― upon hearing him.

"It's pomegranate-mango," he corrected, trying to keep up his usual arrogance but failing, "And it's the only thing that hides the smell of ramen." (And, he wouldn't admit aloud, it smelled _really _good).

"Psh, you're such a girl, Sasuke," Naruto commented flippantly. Sasuke's only response was to scoff and flip to a particularly hard word problem that he was going to make Naruto solve.

A few minutes later, Naruto was bored. And his head hurt. Math was hard! And Sasuke wasn't going easy on him either.

"Can we take a break?" he asked, his head sinking down to meet the pages of his textbook. "I'm sooooo booooorrrrrreeeddd…" Sasuke had noticed that Naruto tended to overemphasize things when he was trying to make a point.

"We just started," Sasuke said, not even looking up from his notebook. "No breaks until we finish this chapter." Naruto heaved a great sigh, imagining Sasuke as a slave driver cracking a whip at him― in a totally not-kinky way, _of course_― and went back to the impossibility that was trigonometry.

Forty-five minutes and one broken Naruto-brain later, Sasuke finally put his pencil down and stopped talking about formulas and angles and other such useless things.

"Ok," he announced, "We can take a break now."

"Wait," Naruto said, breaking out of his math-induced partial catatonia, "You mean we aren't _done_!"

"Of course not." Sasuke stood and went to the small kitchen area a few steps away. "Want anything to eat?" Naruto's stomach gave a mighty growl in response and he popped up to appease it. However, the cupboards in Sasuke's kitchen were filled with the most disgusting things that man had ever created and/or discovered on the face of the planet: health food. Naruto's stomach growled pitifully in fear.

"Uh…" he said, staring at the many concoctions of flax seed, wheat grass, and all-natural, organic, cruelty-free, vegan meat substitute, "Can we take a break at my place?"

"Let me guess," Sasuke said flatly, grabbing a granola bar, "You want ramen."

"No," Naruto corrected defiantly, "…Cheetos."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Fine. We can go get your stupid junk food."

Naruto skipped happily towards the door, but then stopped and turned back to face the sliding door out to the balcony with a devious grin on his face.

"You know," he said slowly, "There's always one thing that I've wanted to try…"

Sasuke's mumbled "Oh, God…" escaped him as he ran to the door and slid it open as fast as possibly possible. Once out on the balcony, he didn't stop there; a moment later, he was swinging a leg over the railing, using the concrete barrier for support.

"If you die, I'm not liable," Sasuke warned, joining him on the porch-like area and closing the door behind him.

"I'm not gonna' die," Naruto waved his words away, swinging his other leg over the railing. He shuffled over a few inches and then climbed back over the railing onto his side of the balcony, without even hurting himself in the slightest. "Cool!" he exclaimed, leaning back around to look at Sasuke again, "Hey, Sasuke, check me out― I'm like a ninja or something!"

Sasuke merely scoffed and rolled his eyes again. "If you don't mind, I think I'll go around the way a _normal _person would."

"Aw, come on," Naruto baited, "This way is so much more fun! That is, unless you think you can't do it." Sasuke merely looked at him irritatedly for a few seconds. He knew he shouldn't react to Naruto's gibes, but, well…

"If someone so graceless as you can manage, then I think I can too," Sasuke sniffed, going to the railing to copy Naruto's actions. His movements were fluid until the very last moment in which the trailing leg going over the railing as he stepped onto Naruto's side of the balcony caught for a second, sending him face-first towards a large flowerpot with a slightly shriveled leafy plant in it. Naruto caught him quickly, helping him steady himself back onto his feet. Surprisingly, he didn't poke fun at Sasuke's own momentary lack of grace; he simply clapped his friend on the shoulder and laughed about this being his new preferred way of getting around.

Once they were inside the apartment and Naruto's fingers had been successfully coated in Cheeto dust, Naruto decided (without Sasuke's permission, of course) that he was done studying for the day. And once his hands had been de-orangified, he decided that playing videos games was what he really needed. And so, he went over to the mess of wires around his TV to look for something to play.

"Hm…" he pondered thoughtfully, looking over the selection. He turned to Sasuke and asked, "Rock Band or Halo?"

"What?" Sasuke turned away from staring in disgust at the state of Naruto's kitchen (Sasuke's comment of "You know you have enough sodium and sugar in this kitchen to decimate a third-world nation, right?" had gone over Naruto's head entirely),

"Rock Band or Halo?" Naruto repeated.

"Um… is there a difference?" Sasuke had zero knowledge of any video games; he though they were silly and chose not to waste precious brain space on information pertaining to them in any way. Naruto's expression was that of extreme shock, as if he'd said something terrifically blasphemous.

"Is there a _difference_?" he echoed in scandalized awe, "Sasuke, this might be beyond my expertise. You may need to seek professional help." He dug through the mess of wires to find a few relevant teaching tools. "This," he explained, holding up a controller, "Is used to run around and shoot stuff and-or people in Halo. And this," he held up a plastic guitar, "Is to play guitar in Rock Band." Sasuke wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Ok, we'll take this slow― Rock Band it is."

"I don't even want to play―"

"You're playing, Sasuke. I feel the need to save you from yourself." Rolling his eyes for the umpteenth time that day, Sasuke found a non-crumb-covered spot on the couch and seated himself. "Real rockers don't sit on the couch when they play," Naruto informed him, handing him the guitar. "Here, you play this, I'll sing."

"I don't want to be a real rocker; therefore, I'm sitting." Sasuke held the guitar controller awkwardly in his hands. "Now what?" he asked.

"You'll figure it out…"

Before Sasuke had realized it, they had played through many of the songs. By the end, he'd found that it really was harder to play whilst seated, and had then jumped up to continue playing, his spastic movements nearly rivaling Naruto's own. And most of all, he actually discovered that he enjoyed playing this game and laughing with Naruto throughout.

This became somewhat of a tradition between the two of them. Sasuke tried to teach Naruto everything he could for the exams and Naruto tried to educate Sasuke about everything related to video games and comics and saturated fats (the last of which Sasuke still avoided when he was anywhere but Naruto's apartment.

Then finally, the exams were over. Naruto still wasn't sure if he'd done well― he was just happy to be done with them― until the grades were posted and he found he'd improved way more than he ever thought possible. His grades weren't amazing, but they were enough to keep him out of class over the summer break. And during this break, even though there was no studying to be done, Sasuke and Naruto still hung out together frequently, with Naruto often showing up on Sasuke's balcony, unannounced, but welcome.

Then one night, the universe decided to play with them again.

Both boys awoke that morning with very uncomfortable problems on their hands, each the result of some very _interesting_ dreams they'd had. Though they would never― and never did― reveal this information to the other, both Naruto and Sasuke had had particularly steamy dreams involving the two of them. It was one of those strange coincidences that happen occasionally without explanation; whether or not their dreams were the same could never be determined. However, their reactions to the dreams were very different.

Naruto snapped into consciousness, entangled in his now-sweaty sheets, with his heart beating fast and his eyes far more wide open than they ever were at this time in the day. His first thought was a very confused _What the FUCK was that?_ And he promptly attempted to replace the mental image of dream-Sasuke's pale nude body with that of any girl that Naruto had seen in the numerous porn videos that he most certainly did not watch. And, of course, the image didn't immediately switch back to that of Sasuke again, no sir.

Sasuke, however, opened his eyes to his clean, white ceiling with his thoughts more intrigued than anything. In all honesty, he'd been feeling something in the past few weeks that he'd been unable to identify, but he'd assumed that this was what it was like to have an actual friend. But, always, the pragmatist, he interpreted the dream― the contents of which should not be explained in mixed company― as what his subconscious mind was truly feeling and trying to convey to him. It took a few moments, but then he accepted it as truth. Then, having looked down to see a bulge rising from his sheets, he headed to the bathroom to tackle this next dilemma.

They'd planned to conquer a new campaign on Halo that day, and Naruto nearly cancelled out of how awkward it would be, but decided that then Sasuke would ask why and he'd end up spilling his guts all over his already messy floor. And so the gameplay continued as planned.

Having nothing else to do, they ended up spending the whole day together. Sasuke, who was good at compartmentalizing his emotions and showing only a stoic façade, ignored any feelings that he now acknowledged himself to have towards Naruto. He could accept that Naruto would probably not return these feelings and would rather not lose his new friend. Naruto attempted to ignore the dream he'd had and the feelings he was so definitively denying, but found himself getting a bit more flustered than usual and not quite meeting Sasuke's eyes as often. Not that Sasuke really noticed.

That night, they were out on Sasuke's side of the balcony, throwing popcorn down at the cars as they passed. Sasuke decided not to tell Naruto that the snack he was currently enjoying eating in addition to throwing was actually rather healthy. He merely laughed along with Naruto as a piece bounced off a passing truck and landed on an unsuspecting man's head, where it stayed at he continued walking down the road. Then something strange happened. When Naruto had finished laughing, he got very quiet suddenly and stopped tossing puffed kernels down upon innocent civilians. Sasuke noticed the change and it felt as though Naruto were about to say something, if the way his mouth opened and then close again a few times was any indication, and he turned to look at the blond boy attentively. And then it happened.

Naruto leaned over and kissed Sasuke.

It was short, but there was no denying that it was a real kiss this time. And Sasuke felt the same kind of spark that he had mostly denied the first time; Naruto's mouth was warm and he would have gladly allowed things to continue. But just as soon as it had started, Naruto pulled away, his face red hot and his eyes avoiding Sasuke's own.

"Whoa, wow," he said, jumping up, "That was really weird. Um, I'm sorry, I'll go." He swung his legs over and navigated his way back around the barrier.

"Naruto, wait―" Sasuke broke free of his momentary surprise and stood up to call him back.

"'Night Sasuke!" he called abruptly, sliding the door shut and locking it, chanting, "stupid, stupid, stupid," in a low mumble once he was out of earshot.

Sasuke remained standing on his side of the barrier, alone and confused.

**

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Part 4: Lovers**

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Naruto avoided Sasuke as one might avoid a barking dog or a dark alley in the middle of the night when you're walking back to the car with your keys in your fist, ready to use your ninja moves on the next murderer to sneak up behind you (or so I've been told). At least they didn't have to go to school, because that way Naruto could simply hide in his apartment with the doors locked and the shades drawn, only venturing out when he needed to stock up on food or if there was a way to get out and run around Tokyo with Kiba without Sasuke noticing. He spent a good chunk of the summer this way, ignoring calls and texts from his neighbor-turned-friend-turned-source-of-awkwardness. Kiba and the others could tell that Naruto was jumpier than usual but he, naturally, didn't tell them why.

Then one day, it rained. Sasuke had gone to the school to practice archery with special permission from the principal― it was how he could alleviate his frustrations over the situation with Naruto. He'd left when it started to rain on the uncovered archery range and as he was walking from the train back to the apartment complex, it changed suddenly from a light shower to a torrential downpour. By the time he reached the building, his dark hoodie and jeans were soaked through; he thanked whatever god was up there that, though he was wearing a white t-shirt as well, he didn't really have to worry about the clinginess of wet clothing. It was, however, unusually cold for the summer.

To make things even worse, Sasuke realized after climbing the many stairs to his floor due to lack of elevator, that he'd left his bag on the train. With his keys inside. And so, the normally punctual and organized Uchiha Sasuke found himself sitting in the cold hall of his apartment, looking like a drenched animal and wondering if it was worth it to try to go back to the station.

And then up from the stairwell appeared Uzumaki Naruto.

Sasuke, who was most certainly _not _wallowing in his misery, didn't notice Naruto until he was standing right next to him and speaking.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked. He would have ignored Sasuke as he had been, but he just looked so pitiful.

"I'm locked out," Sasuke responded quietly, not looking up, "I left my keys on the train."

Naruto looked around, debating for a moment. "Well, um…" he said slowly, "Do you want to come in?"

Sasuke nodded and stood as Naruto unlocked his door and went inside. Sasuke entered Naruto's apartment, as he often had, but this time he just stood there awkwardly by the door, not wanting to drip all over everything as he had been in the hall.

"Naruto," he said, grabbing the blond boy's attention, "We should really talk about what hap―"

"I'll get you a towel," Naruto interrupted hastily, heading towards the bathroom and leaving Sasuke alone again. Said boy stood there for a moment longer before deciding that a towel wouldn't do any good over wet clothing…

He'd just removed his t-shirt when he looked over at the bathroom door to see Naruto standing there, towel in hand, staring at him with a strange expression on his face.

"Uh, thanks," he said, moving towards Naruto. But when he tried to take the towel, Naruto's hand refused to release it. "What―"

He was interrupted again, this time when Naruto's lips pressed against his own, the towel used as a way to pull him in gently. And what was gentle for a moment turned immediately more rough and lustful. Sasuke leaned in more, pushing Naruto to the wall, where they continued to taste each other's lips in an almost fierce manner as hands roamed over backs and shoulders and into hair; the towel lay forgotten on the floor. After a few moments of tongue wrestling (and almost physical wrestling), they pulled away from each other, panting.

"Do you want this?" Sasuke asked, looking at Naruto directly.

"Do _you_ want this?" Naruto asked in response. Sasuke continued to look at him; then he nodded. Naruto looked away for a moment, as if debating with himself, then, reluctantly, nodded. He reached his arms forward, more gently this time, and pulled Sasuke towards him for another kiss.

The next morning, Sasuke awoke to something hard. No, it wasn't the kind of hard thing that he had woken up to previously; this time, it was a hard surface beneath his back. He was lying on Naruto's floor, and Naruto was tangled around him in a jumble of limbs. Naruto opened his eyes at Sasuke's slight movements.

"Hey," he said sleepily, smiling.

"Hey," Sasuke replied, doing the same.

Now, what happened from that point on in the lives of Sasuke and Naruto is tough to determine, just as one riding a train can't always see what's coming down the tracks. For example, they _might_ have stayed together through the rest of high school, without anyone ever knowing that they even knew each other outside of school, and _might_ have gone to the same college (a stretch for Naruto and a choice for Sasuke), where they _might _have been roommates. And they might have kept their relationship a secret all that time, staying mutually exclusive and only coming out as college seniors, after which they moved in together in an apartment with a large balcony. And they just might have stayed in their crazy, teasing version of love all the way through. But who can say?

At that moment however, there is one more event that is known for certain. You see, Naruto's dear friend Kiba had a habit of showing up at Naruto's apartment door when the time of morning no longer became known as ungodly, calling for video games and early-morning debauchery. And this was one such day in which he decided to do just that. His banging on the apartment door startled Sasuke and Naruto out of their comfortable places sprawled across the floor and into a sudden panic. They ran around the apartment gathering all evidence of Sasuke's presence. Sasuke dressed quickly as Naruto called things back to Kiba to stall him.

"Go out the balcony!" Naruto whispered, and Sasuke was quick to do so once he'd found his pants. But first, he ran over to Naruto and gave him a quick peck on the lips, smiled, and was back around to his side of the balcony just in time for Naruto to appease Kiba's shouts.

As Sasuke leaned against the wall to steady his erratic heartbeat, he could hear the conversation between Kiba and Naruto through the paper-thin divider. Upon Kiba asking what had taken him so long, Naruto had responded that he was in bed, naked (which he had been) and that Kiba probably didn't want to see that (which he most certainly didn't). And then Kiba called for food and Sasuke heard the telltale sound of Naruto's microwave heating water for ramen. And so, Sasuke sprayed some pomegranate-mango air freshener, touched a few fingers to his lips where they still tingled with the taste of the last kiss, and began counting the minutes until he'd see Naruto again, out on the magical little area of their balcony.

**

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The End**

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I really hope you enjoyed this story. Review to tell me your thoughts, please!


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